Louis Smith's Hair May Be Different But It Isn't Meant To Make A Statement

Louis Smith is a very talented artistic gymnast, and not one whose success should be trivialized by fans focusing on something small. The British Olympian isn't to be taken lightly, as he is quite the competitor (he got himself a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and then proceeded to grab the silver at the 2012 Olympics in London for the pommel horse) and gold in Rio seems like the most logical next step in his saga. That being said, I must trivialize Smith's success just for a moment, and focus on something small — his man bun. The guy has a pretty serious look, and Louis Smith's hair is making just as many waves in Rio as the athlete's actual gymnastic skills.

Not that I'm complaining any which way, because that man seriously rocks the look. The 27-year-old athlete from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire will compete again on the pommel horse Sunday, Aug. 14 and fans everywhere will attempt desperately to focus on his athleticism and not his hairstyle choices — though it will not be easy. While fans might have a lot of questions about the man bun of this former winner of Strictly Come Dancing, the UK's equivalent to Dancing with the Stars, it seems Smith didn't actually put much thought into his attention-getting look.

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Reuters reports that Smith only adopted his new hairdo as a means of convenience. He told the news organization in August, "I was growing it and I hadn’t put any hair spray in it for training so it was flopping around everywhere. I went to one of the girls in training and asked for a hairband and I just tied it up." The medalist soon discovered the ease of rocking a bun, telling Reuters, “You get out of the shower, tie it up and it’s done." It seems that Smith is just doing what he wants and not making an sort of statement with his bun. He's a guy who's very much in the public eye, and his commitment to simply be comfortable and stay true to himself is a wonderful thing to see.

Still, though the look may have started as just a way to keep the gymnast's hair out of the way, Smith admitted to Reuters that, “I haven’t seen anybody else with this hairstyle before and it’s nice to be different.” Whatever the actual reason behind the choice, keep doing your thing, Smith, because you are looking fine.